Since man began building dwellings and other structures, fire, earthquakes, faulty building design and other incidents have been causes of damage and even collapse of such buildings. Many people have died or been injured as a result of such calamities. Property damage is another significant loss resulting from such events. Societies have long maintained fire departments, emergency medical units, and other groups to respond to such incidents in an effort to prevent or minimize human suffering as well as property loss. In addition to professional and/or dedicated emergency response organizations, e.g., fire department, other groups, such as CERT (Community Emergency Response Teams), comprised of volunteer, non-professional emergency responders, also respond to emergency situations. CERT and other like organizations also train volunteers to serve as responders. These “responders” often face very difficult and unknown conditions, e.g., fire, smoke, unstable structures, injured victims, unfamiliar building layouts, etc. For instance, entering or navigating through a burning building a fireman or other responder may face blinding, dense smoke.
Casualty incidents often arise from natural disasters and other emergency situations and present logistical challenges to emergency response personnel when time is of the essence in ascertaining the identification, status, and medical condition of victims. In certain situations, e.g., earthquakes, responders proceed with a phased approach to assessing and then mitigating injury and loss following catastrophic events. For instance, first responders to a collapsed building, including with the aid of devices or trained dogs, search for injured persons. Those that cannot be immediately extricated from wreckage are identified for later rescue and/or treatment. In addition to emergency situations, the invention may be used to help track location of individuals in remote areas or unfamiliar locations. For example, military or boy scouts or other individuals working on developing survival skills or just in participating in planned activities may use the marking devices. Also, rescuers searching for lost hikers or campers may use the invention to help mark search areas or locations of interest that may contribute to locating the lost individual. This may be particularly helpful in situations where there is a sudden and extreme environmental condition, e.g., sudden and intense snowfalls, rains/floods, fog, etc.
Search and rescue personnel often enter unfamiliar areas with low visibility, such as a dilapidated building at night. Emergency personnel can use light and/or sound emitting devices to indicate points of interest such as a pathway for ingress and egress, a hazard, or an injured person. One problem with existing visual annunciators is that the on-board power source is typically battery-based. Batteries require a pro-longed time to recharge and have relatively short lifespans, especially when compared to certain types of rapidly charging and slowly discharging capacitors. If a battery is not charged at the time of emergency then the delay in charging the device may render it useless and the rapid discharge may limit even a charged device's usefulness. For example, rescue personnel may have marked an injured person with an annunciator while they search for additional injured people. If the battery goes out, the injured person's location may be lost, thereby risking further injury to the person.
If batteries have to be replaced, valuable time may be lost. Additionally, replacing batteries in low visibility environments can be difficult, which could reduce efficiency. If there are no replacement batteries on hand, the operation may be stalled until the batteries can be replaced or charged. For example, military personnel may use an annunciator to mark a target of interest for a subsequent night operation. Should the annunciator battery go out, personnel must partake in a difficult low visibility replacement of the battery with failure leading to a lost opportunity to take out the target.
Devices using batteries also require a larger volume than devices using rapid-charging capacitors. Accordingly, the invention has the advantage of decreasing the product's size and weight. Decreased size and weight is a benefit to rescue/responder personnel, thereby increasing operational efficiency. Further, personnel that are forced to carry larger and heavier devices lose storage space for other necessary items. For example, campers often pack several pounds of gear in backpacks and have a limited amount of storage space. Assuming campers use emitters to mark a pathway, they need to carry multiple emitters, which may take up space that other useful survival tools would otherwise use. Thus, a smaller and lighter device provides an advantage over a larger and heavier device.
What is needed is a solution to address the various problems associated with light and/or sound emitting annunciators using batteries and other disadvantageous power sources.